Sarah’s Mum’s Christmas Card

I hope you don’t mind,  but I thought I would post this card (and any other handmade cards I receive this year)  that my friend Sarah’s mum made for me …… I just adore it.  It’s so simple ……..

…… and is certainly an idea I will use for inspiration in the coming year, not only for Christmas but birthdays too.

Memory Box Row of Tree Christmas Cards

It’s a good job I took photos of these cards because I have lost them!!! Put away somewhere safe, to be found in three months time no doubt!! They did measure about 5ins x 5ins, I think, using a blue card.

As you know in the past I have used a bare tree and red heart design for many of the Christmas cards I send to my family and close friends,  usually stamped, and that was my intention for this year when I fell in love with this Memory Box Row of Trees Die (No. 98369), which measures approx. 3 3/4" x 2. 

But I am afraid time beat me …… and to be honest I wasn’t altogether sure that the proportion of the hearts were really right and if I should have used a printed paper for the background ….. something just isn’t right, it’s too stark !!  However, I am not going to beat myself up about it, but leave it now until next year.

I used a very glittery roll of gift wrap for the snow, I have awful difficulty, as I have said before in finding a “pure” white glitter card for my snow …. but this roll was perfect, and should last for years ….. and was a lot cheaper than having to buy a pile of A4 or 12 x 12 sheets.

Photo Collage Leaving Card For A Very Special Lady.

This card is A5 in size and is a hand cut blank made using a white linen effect card.

Between March and December this year,  I and all the other girls in the office had the enormous pleasure of working with Sally, a “temp” who filled in for Sarah, another much loved colleague, who left us for a while to take Adoption Leave.

In the time Sally was with us we have never laughed so much, or had so much fun, and I have to say that Sally was very good at giving as good as she got!!!!!  It was as if Sally had been with us forever and it was very, very sad when she had to leave because there wasn’t the opportunity for her to stay once Sarah returned, but happily she got a job at the school next door and she has become a friend for life.

We had a little leaving soiree chez moi to say goodbye properly ………..

…….. in our usual  unseemly fashion ……

……. and naturally I made a card ….. using some of the photos I had taken at key moments of riotous amusement during our time together ……

The buses are a reference to Sally having to organise sooooooo many trips over the nine months …… they almost drove her scatty, especially when all the paperwork changed half way through ….. one day I beat Sally to crying over it!!!! The knitting is a reference to Sally always having some knitting on the go …. and our breaks usually being taken up by a “show and tell” session!!!  And Sally’s halo? …… Well, she really had to be a saint to work with us and survive!!!!!

Christmas Fairy Door

I adore, adore, adore fairy doors …..

I would have them everywhere, but sometimes a little restraint has to be observed!!!!! This one is on the skirting board of my lounge…….

…… and I thought as it was Christmas “the occupiers” within really needed it to be “festivated” and I remembered the tiny wreath embellishments I’ve had squirrelled away, but never used  …… et voila!! Indulge me …. simple pleasures!

Evergreen Place Settings

I saw this idea for using small sprigs of fir as a place setting  a while back on a “natural” wedding site and thought I could do put my own spin on it for Christmas.

All I have done is small punch a tag out of Kraft card, used a white gel pen for the writing, added a silver star and then attached the completed tag to a sprig of fir with some brown textured string.

And as I worked with the fir the smell was divine.

I am so pleased with the simplicity and overall result that I am now wondering if I could possibly use the idea as a substitute for a Christmas Card next year (always thinking ahead) …… so after my entertaining …., I am having a bijoux soiree, I shall put mine aside and see how long it lasts without shedding and stays “fresh”.

http://thenaturalweddingcompany.co.uk/blog/2012/12/evergreen-place-settings-with-luggage-tags-for-a-natural-seasonal-winter-wedding/

Kraft Christmas Tree Card

This card measures 5 ins x 5ins and is made using a hand cut Kraft Card blank.

I have to confess the idea for this card is not mine …. I half inched it from a card I saw in a well know store and thought I could do something similar putting my own twist on it.

The card I saw was just plain and flat with a hand drawn effect.  I decided to add a little dimension by punching triangles from a a scrap of Kraft card coloured crudely with a green Promaker pen for the trees, which I then doodled on with a fine black liner and white gel pen.

I put a small adhesive pad behind each tree and added a touch of micro fine translucent glitter for subtle Christmas bling, and then a bit of mat and layering on silver mirror card to complete the centre panel. This was followed by a little more doodling and an handwritten sentiment, done and dusted!

Gardening Christmas Card

This card measures 5ins x 5ins and is made using a hand cut white linen card blank.

This was a really quick card that I made for a couple who are helping me sort the bottom of my garden out after I decided it was just too big a task for me.  What they have done in a couple of weeks would have taken me years, and years and years!

I’d been joking that their van should have a big illuminated snail on the top …… well,  the husband loved the idea ….. but I think the wife nearly hit me, so I thought this card would be an excellent compromise!!!

Snowman Sticker Christmas Cards

These cards each measure 4ins x 4ins and are made using hand cut white linen effect card blanks.

Nothing really special today.  I was just determined to use up all the 99p Store snowman stickers  from last year and all every last scrap of the snowy Payper Box card I had left.
In the end I did a bit more mat and layering than I had intended, I always think one lot will do and then I start adding another couple more!
I particularly like the snowmen because the silver dotted embellishment on them adds an extra bit of dimension. 
However, I am not so keen on my use of corner peel-offs ….. I don’t do peels offs for goodness sake!!!  I think the Spirit of Christmas Peel –Offs Past must have decided to take demonic possession of me ……..
….. for me,  less is definitely more (as above)!

A Wonderful Gift From Barbara–Tim Holtz 12 Tags of 2013

With writing two blogs I don’t often have time to blog hop, but occasionally I do like to mooch around the blogs of people who stop by and leave me a much appreciated comment, and that’s how I stumbled on Barbara and her blog and saw her Tim Holtz inspired Christmas tag from his 12 Tags of 2013…..

http://barbarascraftroom.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/tims-tag-for-november.html

OMD ……. well,  I had to comment, it would have been rude not to, and said just how much I loved it  …… and then guess what? Barbara only sent me a set of her tags.  They are gorgeous.  I adore a “chalked effect”, in fact when I used to do mahooosive school displays it was very much my trade mark ….. except I used a compressed charcoal, but I digress …..

Barbara’s tags are exquisite and I am so envious of what she has created, which has made me think that next year I really should learn some new techniques …… I have just got too complacent and boring with my plonking of stickers, and I really need to start doing some online classes etc.

Anyway, the tags now have pride of place on my festive shelves, originally I was going to put them each in a single black frame (I will do this after Christmas now), but then I remembered some miniature easles I had stashed away …. which turned out perfect for displaying them.

 

I think my favoutite is the snowman one

It’s a stamp that Marc and I have muted over a couple of times, as well as Tim’s snowman die ….. perhaps after Christmas I will give it some considered consideration, when I come to brush up my techniques!

http://timholtz.com/category/12-tags-of-2013/

In the meantime a HUGE thank you to Barbara ….. I love each and every one of them and will always treasure them, and I promise they will always be a part of my Christmas decorations for years to come.

Small Christmas Robin Wreath

This is me messing about on a Saturday morning when I really should have been cleaning!!!

I am not sure where the chunky pink wooden bird came from (part of a set), but I decided to try colouring it with Promaker pens to make it look like a robin.  When the colours didn’t bleed I was really chuffed  so then went on to add a good coating of Glossy Accents as a varnish and a wibbly wobbly eye.

I dug out an old flat bracelet I got from a cheap shop in Wolverhampton ages ago,  I think they cost about a pound for six.  I attached some soft garden twine for a hanger and then stuck mulberry paper holly leaves all the way around. I then went round the holly leaves very roughly with a white gel pen to add a little definition, and small red flat backed gems in sets of three at intervals round the inside edge of the “wreath” and then finally the robin took his position along with a red gingham ribbon, nothing spectacular or fiddly diddly ….. just very quick and simple.

Looking at it now I may just add the teensiest tiniest sprinkle of translucent micro fine glitter to add a little bling, but not too much. Seeing how well this one has turned out,  I think I will make a few more to put on everyone’s bedroom door handle on Christmas Eve as an extra festive touch.

Christmas 2013 - Elizabeth Shaw Mints

Now,  you didn’t actually think that I wasn’t going to feature any Elizabeth Shaw mints this Christmas did you??
This year I decided to put them in boxes with the intention of people scattering them on their festive table as after dinner mints.

I’ve made up my Sizzix Bigz XL Box No. 3 in plain white linen card.  It’s a very simple box to put together and as you can see it’s also quite a substantial size.  http://www.sizzix.com/product/656278/sizzix-bigz-xl-die-box-3.  I wish, perhaps, I’d used a coloured or fancier card ….. but I will confess that I’ve had a whole stack of these boxes cut out for over two years now and thought I’d best use a few of them before cutting up new stuff!  The tag is a leftover from last year -  http://itsallfiddlefart.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/snowman-tags.html

As per usual I have used my Stampin’ Up scallop and plain (1 3/8)  circle punches ……

…… and put silver foil Christmas stickers from this years Hobbycraft Christmas range on one side …

….. and silver sentiment circles from CraftWork Cards, backed on red on the other side   (Product Code: 03 006 000 23)
http://craftworkcards.co.uk/products/1585/in-circles-christmas-gold-silver.html
So that’s Elizabeth Shaw mints done for another year ….. all I can say is look out Valentines Day, here I come!!

I have found that the best price to get these mints is BM Bargains as I prefer the milk ones.  A box there usually costs £1.99. Finding them in the supermarket is generally a bit hit and miss but they usually cost about £3.69 a box, unless they are on BOGOF.  When I see them in BM Bargains I always check the best before date first (these were August 2014) and then stock up!

Snowflake Seals

I am sooooooo into seals at the moment ……  as this is a craft blog naturally I mean the letter/parcel ones, as opposed to the cute, big eyed, swimming, fish eating variety!!!

So I decided to treat myself to seal set which consists of a handle and three interchangeable seals, a daisy, a leaf and a snowflake, with lots of other designs available for all occasions, there is a holly and a snowman one that I also have my eye on. It cost me £8.99 on e-Bay with free P & P, but I think prices vary.

It took a couple of attempts to pour just about the right amount of white Utee out and then try and get the seal roughly in the middle, but that’s the beauty of seals, they are not meant to be perfect. From one small pan of utee you can see (above) how many seals I got. 

I tried to colour a few with blue micra powder, but am not that enamoured with how they have come our, I quite fancied just a hint of blue round the edges, but I think I was a bit heavy handed.

These I think are destined for tags ….. I am thinking white or grey, with a pale blue snowflake background, silver eyelet and blue and white bakers twine ….. so off to the drawing board I go …….